Chris Christie’s critics savor his misfortune

Chris Christie is learning that being a Party of One can be pretty lonely when times get tough.

Democrats predictably condemned the New Jersey governor after a bombshell report Wednesday tied one of his top staffers to a burgeoning scandal that’s already been dubbed “Bridge-gate.” More notable was the dearth of Republicans who rose to Christie’s defense — and, privately, the schadenfreude expressed by some of them that a man who’s never been shy about taking shots at others was suddenly on the receiving end.

That sense of glee from detractors “is going to be worse than they anticipate,” said the Republican, adding that local critics but also detractors in some of the early presidential states might now feel emboldened to take shots at a man who 24 hours ago was seen by many as the most likely GOP standard-bearer in 2016.

Many of Christie’s Republican critics weren’t ready to pounce publicly — he’s still a powerful governor, and no one knows where the scandal will turn next. But more than a few quietly savored the turnabout of Christie — a man who has attacked both parties with relish, and who’s known less for his policy positions than for the sheer force of his singular personality — under attack.

Christie has not been directly implicated, and he said in his statement Wednesday that a staffer had misled him. But the crisis, at the very least, has put at risk Christie’s reputation as a no-nonsense executive and leader.

The scandal exploded midmorning Wednesday when The Record (N.J.) reported that a top Christie aide was aware ahead of time about lane closures on the heavily trafficked George Washington Bridge. Critics had alleged the partial closure was political payback for a Democratic mayor who refused to endorse Christie’s reelection — and now they had what they saw as powerful evidence in the form of email correspondence subpoenaed by a legislative committee.

Christie had been adamant that none of his staffers was involved in the lane closures.

More than six hours passed before Christie’s office released a statement, time the governor spent huddled with top aides to devise a strategy to address the crisis. Inquiring reporters and restive supporters were met with radio silence from his aides. In the meantime, fresh stories were published about the damage caused by the resulting traffic congestion around the city of Fort Lee, where the closures took place.

When Christie finally surfaced with a late afternoon statement, Christie called the conduct unacceptable and vowed, without naming names, that “people will be held responsible.”

But the lengthy delay left people who might be inclined to be helpful with little to say, not wanting to get in front of the governor’s own words.

“There’s nothing coming out of the governor’s office — no statement, no talking points, no anything,” said former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean, a mentor of Christie who has recently expressed disappointment in how the governor handled a political dispute involving his son, state Sen. Tom Kean Jr.

“When there’s a leader, people these days, in modern politics, sort of wait for that,” he said a short time before Christie’s office emailed a statement to the press. “And they haven’t come. So people sort of don’t know what to say.”

Even Christie supporters were privately dumbstruck that a former prosecutor would find himself at the mercy of legislative subpoenas. They recalled that his office had already gone through a who-what-when scandal involving emails when education official Bret Schundler was fired in 2010 over a flap about a botched application for Race to the Top funds. They wondered aloud about what the next turn of the screw would be.

The details of the bridge incident are complicated and have generally been drowned out by the larger headlines — “scandal,” “coverup,” “traffic mess.”

But the nature of the scandal — a traffic jam that lasted four days — touches one of the most common frustrations of everyday life. That means it could penetrate with voters in a way other negative stories about Christie might not.